Double Trouble
by EmeraldLily7918
Summary: Three years ago, Aella Houshigawa left for America to improve her tennis. Now, she's back and going to Rikkai Dai Fuzoku. Only problem, Rikkai Dai is home to the Trickster. So, what if there were two Tricksters in Rikkai Dai? Will the school and it's inhabitants explode in chaos with twice the pranks and that are twice the size? There's a 100% chance of trouble in the air.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Aella cringed as she dragged the hairbrush through her tresses, huffing in impatience. She had been trying to untangle her hair for thirty minutes already, and she'd only gotten about half of it done. She grabbed a strand of her ratty, hip-long hair and held it at eye-level, yanking out the knot that had embedded itself in it.

At times she wondered, with a sigh, whether it was such a good idea to grow her hair out. Honestly, her golden tangles gave her so much trouble in the mornings, Aella swore that she could learn an entire language within the time she spent untangling it. Sometimes she was tempted to crop it all off.

She glanced at her alarm clock and gave a start, as it showed that she only had about fifteen minutes before the bus arrived. Dragging the hairbrush through the rest of her hair haphazardly, she quickly wound it in a messy bun on top of her head and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

She stopped by the kitchen on her way out and grabbed her lunch and the keys to the apartment she shared with her sister. Miyo had left earlier that morning to get to her job as a teacher at Kanagawa Dai'ichi, Aella's school when she was younger. She slipped through the door and locked it.

Aella lived with her sister in the apartment section of Kanagawa, about five bus rides away from downtown Kanagawa and ten bus rides from Rikkai Dai. The Kanagawa Mall and grocery store were a bit farther, but overall, everything was fifteen to thirty minutes away, depending on how many people were on the buses that day.

She was glad for this as she sprinted to reach her bus stop in time. There were a lot of people today, and she fell in line behind them as they filed neatly onto the bus. The driver held a small, transparent container out to her, and she dropped a couple of yen into it before finding a seat near the back and sitting down, setting her bag in her lap. The bus stopped again and a girl wearing a Rikkai Dai girls' uniform boarded, slumping down in the seat beside Aella.

"Hi," she chirped.

Aella cast a sidelong, uninterested glance at her. The girl had silky, brown hair that crept down her back, and chocolate eyes to match. She was the kind of naturally pretty girl that was all smiles and candy. Except, Aella noticed – she wasn't smiling so much as smirking.

"I'm Hanako Miyumi," she said. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you transferring to Rikkai Dai?"

Aella nodded. It was awkward to change schools in the middle of a semester, but her sister had insisted they come back to Japan. Aella didn't agree. America was a good place, and the little town they lived in had been very safe.

Besides – there were too many memories here.

"Are you mute?" Hanako asked.

"No," Aella said flatly.

Hanako's smirk grew wider, like getting Aella to talk was a big accomplishment. She extended a hand, and Aella looked at it warily before shaking it with her own. Hanako had a strong grip, she observed.

Aella stood up as the bus stopped in front of Rikkai Dai and walked quickly to the exit, careful not to hit any passengers with her backpack. She and Hanako were the only students on the bus that day, so there wasn't a big avalanche of people to fight through. For that, Aella was thankful.

Hanako stepped off the bus and turned to Aella. "Well, I'll see you in class – um…" Her brow creased.

"Houshigawa Aella," Aella provided.

"Okay, I'll see you around, Houshigawa," Hanako told her cheerfully, not bothering with an honorific. She walked away with a wave of her hand.

"Sure," Aella said, watching in bemusement as she left. She turned her gaze to the school, eyes widening in surprise at how different it was from her old high school, back in Florence, Arizona. Florence High School hadn't been nearly as big as Rikkai Dai, and she immediately felt intimidated by the school.

Aella hadn't been in Japan for nearly three years, and she hadn't spoken a word of the language for two years. She muttered some of the harder to pronounce Japanese words under her breath, and was amused to find that she had a small lilt in her voice.

She was jerked out of her stupor when, out of nowhere, a chiming tune began playing across the campus. Aella looked around and found that the students dotting the lawn in front of the school had all paused in their actions and were walking towards the school. _Must be the bell,_ she figured.

She walked by herself towards the doors, taking out the white slip of paper in the pocket of her blazer. She was in class 3-A #10. As she entered the school, she discovered with pleasure that there were floors for each grade. The thought amused her for some reason, probably because it was just so damn orderly.

Aella marched up the stairs, watching as second years scurried past her, giggling. It felt strange to be back in middle school again; since she would have been in high school had she stayed in America. She walked confidently though, despite the fact that she was newer to the school than the first years.

She entered the class to find that it was only half full. The teacher had yet to arrive – along with half the students. She spotted Hanako in a seat by the window waving at her, and walked to her.

"There's an empty seat beside me, Houshigawa," she told Aella, gesturing at a desk to her left. She didn't seem surprised at all that they had ended up in the same class, and if she was, she was hiding it well.

Aella sat down in the seat, kicking her backpack under the desk. She smiled despite herself, thinking about the year to come.

When she'd visited Rikkai Dai on Sunday, the principal, taking her for a foreigner (she couldn't blame him. Given her blond hair and turquoise eyes, plus the lilt in her voice and her Aeropostale T-shirt, it was easy to mistake her for an American), had promptly informed her in that patronizing tone that the teachers had used on the stupid students back in kindergarten that "the teachers switch classes here, not the students."

Aella liked the thought that the teachers would do most of the walking between classes. It was strangely alluring to her, and much more logical than the idea that a sea of students should go scrambling through the halls every fifty minutes, like it had been back in her old school.

Soon, the seats started filling up as students came in. Aella was sitting behind a nice-looking boy with raven hat-hair and in front of a girl who kept on twirling a lock of her straight ebony hair. To her right was Hanako, and to her left was a sporty-looking girl who looked like she ran track, judging by the bulging muscles on her legs.

The teacher arrived last, striding into the classroom on clacking heels and setting a folder down on the desk in front of her. "We have a new student among us today," she announced. There were murmurs from the class – it was strange for students to transfer schools in the middle of the first semester, or any semester, really. "Houshigawa Aella." The teacher scanned the room.

Aella stood up after a moment's hesitation and walked to the front of the class.

"It seems you've already found yourself a seat. Please introduce yourself and tell us some things about yourself."

Aella rolled her eyes. The class already knew her name, what else was there to tell? Besides, she liked knowing the name of a person before she started telling them stuff about herself. Still, with another dramatic roll of her eyes, she began.

"I'm Houshigawa Aella, and I don't really have any particular hobby. I'm not allergic to anything, and you guys are bored."

The teacher blinked. "I'm Tekumi-sensei. It's nice to meet you. Please take a seat so that class can begin."

Aella smoothly moved to her chair and sat down. She leaned into the back of her seat and crossed her arms over her chest loosely, tilting her chin up in a superior manner. Her turquoise eyes peered down on the class and Tekumi-sensei coolly.

Rikkai Dai, she hoped, would be interesting.

* * *

"Y'know, Houshigawa, I bet you'd have to drink a cargo ship of alcohol before I got a dollars worth of information about you," Hanako marveled.

Aella laughed. They were walking towards the soccer fields for Hanako's practice, as the girl was a starter on the girls' soccer team. The two had become fast friends; sharing a common interest in old movies and making people feel uncomfortable.

"I swear," Hanako cried, throwing her hands up unselfconsciously. Aella had discovered soon after meeting her that Hanako was not the type to be embarrassed about anything. "It is absolutely impossible to worm any information out of you."

"Then why do you keep trying?" Aella asked.

She grinned. "It's a challenge."

Aella scoffed and waved her off to soccer practice with a teasing "Just go to practice already." She turned away after watching for a minute or two and decided that she would explore Rikkai Dai.

She wondered if she should join a club – because it would be awfully boring to wait around in the halls for two hours. Besides, her after-school job didn't start until 5:30.

She stopped short, breath hitching, as she rounded a corner and spotted a familiar silver head.

_Haru._

He was with a pretty third year girl, back slouched and hands in his pockets, eyes hooded with boredom. The girl had her eyes on his shoes and she was murmuring something incomprehensible. She looked so shy next to his confident smirk that if Aella wasn't so _damn frightened_ at the sight of him, she would've felt sorry for her. It was obvious that the girl was confessing to him, and it was obvious to Aella in the tilt of his head and the set of his shoulders that he was going to reject her.

He was relishing in her nervousness – but the moment she grew confident, he would crush her.

Aella tried to decipher what the girl was saying, how soon that moment was, but the up and down movement of her mouth wasn't enough. Niou looked at her with a sneer, and Aella was able to make out the word "girlie" before his mouth started moving too fast for her to keep up. The girl murmured something back to him, looking like she was struggling to hold back tears. He said something and she shook her head vigorously, running away.

The time had come earlier than she'd expected, Aella mused in her head.

He turned to her, sneer still caught on his lips, and she watched, frozen, as his eyes widened almost imperceptibly when he recognized her and he took a step towards her.

She panicked and melted into a crowd of Rikkai students nearby before he could get any farther.

* * *

Niou Masaharu felt his heartbeat increase as she disappeared into a crowd of Rikkai students. He took a step, then another, in the direction she'd gone in, but then Yagyuu appeared by his side, looking quizzically in the direction he was looking in.

"What are you looking at, Hiroshi?" Niou smirked, abandoning his efforts for the moment.

Yagyuu blinked. "Ah – Niou-kun, let's go to practice."

Niou nodded and turned towards the tennis courts, where he'd been going before that pesky girl had confessed to him and before he'd seen Aella. His steps were slow, reluctant as he started after Yagyuu, sweeping his gaze through the crowd. He turned his neck so that he could scan behind him, but he saw nothing.

Che. Figures. She'd be the only who could vanish completely in a crowd of ten.

He turned back as he approached the tennis courts. He and Yagyuu both got ten laps for being late, but he didn't mind. It gave him time to think and scan the crowd of fangirls for her.

Houshigawa Aella

The name struck memories within him. As far as he knew, nobody on the team, not even Yanagi, knew about her. He didn't keep it a secret; he just never brought it up.

She'd quite literally disappeared one day. Niou remembered going home and asking if he could go over to Aella's, to get the answer that she'd flown to America that afternoon.

_What the hell?_

He'd been shocked.

Because, what kind of friend just up and left, without even a good bye? Without a word even?

And then, when he'd raced to his room to email her, he found that she'd deleted her account. He tried to call her, but her cell phone number had been disconnected. Of course, being the resourceful eleven-year-old he was, he'd found new ways to contact her – all of which failed.

Eventually, Niou gave up. He stopped trying to email and call her, and he focused instead on tennis and Nationals and establishing his new reputation in Rikkai Dai as "The Trickster."

Niou had forgotten about her.

…Until now, that is.

* * *

Aella felt guilty.

She felt guilty because she'd left. She felt guilty for disappearing, for running away three years ago. She felt guilty for running away again today. She felt guilty, guilty, guilty, and she wanted to stop.

So she did.

She splashed ice cold water onto her face and ran her wet hands through her hair. She composed herself, telling herself that she wouldn't keep dodging Niou because she was afraid. She told herself that she would confront him when the time arose.

And for now, that was enough.

Slipping past a first year girl who had come in, she went out to explore the school like she had planned to do before. She wanted to join a sports club, like volleyball or basketball. Rikkai Dai had a lot of sports team, which was good luck on her part.

Her first thought was to check out the gymnastics club, for the sport had always interested Aella. The thought of flinging one's self into the air wasn't completely foreign to her because she'd sky-jumped once, a process in which one was required to hurl their self off a really tall structure with nothing more than a harness attached to them. She quickly dismissed the idea when she saw the people that were in the club.

Nobody without prior experience joined the gymnastics club, it seemed.

Her second choice was track and field. She had never been one for teamwork and track and field didn't seem to include anything of the sort. Aella didn't know too much about the sport, but she supposed that she was passable. She was a pretty fast runner and she had good stamina and endurance.

Of course, when she saw the club's practice, she realized that passable wouldn't get her very far. At her old school, the girls running in circles in front of Aella would've been the fastest people around. _I guess I need to get accustomed to Rikkai standards,_ she thought wryly – because, damn it, these girls were fast.

Aella soon discovered that while her old school's sports teams had been good, Rikkai's sports teams was on a whole other level. Here, sports were taken to the extreme, with two hours of bone-crushing practice and back-breaking labor every single day. Each team was granted state-of-the-art equipment and the students on these teams were given special treatment, as long as they kept on bringing back shiny gold trophies to be mounted in a display case.

The teams of Rikkai were expected to be no less than Nationals champions.

Aella sighed as another golden curl fell in front of eyes. She tucked it behind her ear, but another one fell in front of her a moment later. A disgruntled noise escaped her as she inserted it back into her bun. The strand behind her ear sprang forward again, and Aella exhaled sharply in frustration.

She reached up to untangle her hair-tie from her hair so that she could tie back the tresses that had managed to come undone. She dragged her fingers through her tangles and grabbed it all in one hand. Twisting it gently, she unwound the hair-tie from her wrist and dragged her hair through it. She twisted and repeated the process until her hair was in a pony-tail that reached to just above her waist.

There.

Now she could concentrate.

Her eyes floated over to the tennis courts, but they quickly skidded past them to the school. Maybe she could give the volleyball team a try. After all, it was never too late to learn teamwork, and she couldn't be picky about which team to tryout for. She'd be lucky to make any team given the level of playing Rikkai's athletes were on. Besides, the teams couldn't be _that_ bad.

She'd be fine as long as it wasn't tennis.

* * *

Author: So, this is the first chapter of the newly-revised version of 'Double Trouble.'

Aella: I was so much awesomer before…

Author: I agree. But you were also unrealistic to me. Besides, I like to think that my writing has gotten better now. Plus, I think you're pretty awesome now, too.

Aella: _*pouts*_ Your opinion doesn't count.

Author: Shut up, or I will pair you up with someone terrible. Now, you must excuse me. I am hard at work on the second chapter.

Aella: Read, review, and hopefully convince Author to change me back.

Author: She's kidding.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Aella adjusted well as a week passed in Rikkai Dai. She had no more encounters with Niou, though she wasn't sure whether it was because she was subconsciously avoiding him or if he was subconsciously avoiding her. She began to consider Hanako as an official friend, though she used the term loosely, and she learned more about the other girl as the week progressed.

Like, for example, the girl used to play volleyball before soccer, how she was afraid of heights and stunk at English, how she absolutely loathed the president of the Niou Masaharu Fanclub for reasons unknown to Aella. Aella observed most of these taking in how the members of the volleyball club said a hello to her when they passed in the halls, how she always blanched and refused to look down when they were near a high place, how their English teacher always slowed things down or repeated them for her, and how her nose always, _always_ wrinkled in distaste whenever Chiyoko Matasuri came within sight.

Aella also learned the name of the girl with ebony hair that sat behind her – it was Shiratsu Minako – and the nice-looking boy in front of her – Sanada Genichirou – and the sporty-looking girl was Moko Kizaki. Aella had chatted with her for a while on her second day and had said a quiet hello to Sanada and Shiratsu.

So, despite being a transfer student, Aella thought, as her first week at Rikkai passed, that everything was starting off smoothly – which was something she couldn't say about her first week at Florence High School.

She heaved a loud sigh and leaned her cheek on the heel of her hand, erasing the bunny scribble from her math homework. She and Hanako were at the library, trying to finish that day's homework early. At least, that was what they were _trying_ to do, she sighed, turning her gaze to the example in her textbook; her eyes glazed over as soon as she started trying to understand it. Why was math so frustrating?

Hanako leaned over; breathe fluttering against Aella's arm. Her mouth curved into a frown when she saw that her page was empty. She sighed. "I was hoping you could help me."

Aella looked at hers and saw that she had filled half a page with expertly drawn cartoons of Tekumi-sensei quite literally "blowing her top." Contrary to Hanako's reaction when she saw her page, Aella smiled and was forced to bite down on her tongue to keep from giggling. "I'm glad to know that you've been keeping yourself productive."

Hanako scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Hardly. I've been on this problem for _forever_."

Aella shook her head. "No, I mean your pictures. There good."

Hanako waved the comment off airily. "Just a hobby. I would hardly call myself good."

Aella laughed. "Well, it is certainly better than my bunny roadkill pictures."

"I'm shocked," Hanako exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "What can beat bunny roadkill pictures?"

Aella shrugged. "I didn't know until now. Those pictures of Tekumi-sensei freaking out are amazing, dude."

Hanako stared at her, then, moved to cover her pictures, giggling.

Aella fixed her with a confused look. "What's wrong? I mean, I know I'm hilarious, but it was just one sentence."

"Ah – um…Houshigawa, I was drawing horses," Hanako laughed.

Aella's eyes widened in surprise – and then in mirth. "But–but, what about the face?" She pointed to a spot on the picture.

Hanako's brown eyes grew so wide Aella thought they would pop out her head. "That's the butt."

Aella dissolved into a fit of giggles, keeling over her math homework. The librarian looked up from her book nearby and shushed them with an irritated finger to her lips. Aella nodded and reigned herself in, biting down on the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting out in raucous laughter.

"I'm glad to know that you think our math teacher's face looks like a horse's butt. Tekumi-sensei will find this information interesting." Hanako had a wicked look in her eyes as she arched an eyebrow teasingly. "She might have to consider getting plastic surgery. A pig's butt might be more her style."

Aella kept a firm grip on the inside of her cheek as she reached across the table to flick Hanako in the forehead. "You know that's not what I meant. But…" She got a mischievous look in her eyes as she rubbed her hand under her chin in a contemplative fashion. "There is quite a resemblance, no?"

At this, both girls diffused in another round of giggles, hands clamping over mouths in floundering attempts at allaying themselves. The librarian glanced up once again and told them sharply to be quiet or risk getting kicked out of the library. Aella straightened up her face and imparted Hanako with her bite-the-tongue strategy, and each time both girls even thought about a horse or a pig or Tekumi-sensei, they bit down hard on their tongues and refused to look at each other for fear that they would start laughing and get kicked out.

When they _finally_ finished their homework, it was already rather dark. More time had passed in the library than they'd thought, for the sky had been a light baby blue when they'd arrived, and now hues of orange and pink swished on cotton-ball-clouds. The sun was already disappearing along the horizon, and the moon was high up in the sky, hardly visible but still there.

Aella looked up, observing how _serene_ the sky looked. It looked like a picture that had jumped from an artist's canvas into real life. She could see the brushstrokes the painter had used to create a cloud hovering in the distance, the yellow and white he'd mixed to create a light spot that tipped of the dark cloud near it.

Hanako looked up too, though her expression was of confusion at what Aella was looking at. She voiced that in a sardonic "Is there a fucking pterodactyl I can't see, of something?"

Aella laughed and turned her eyes to Hanako. "Yeah, actually, there is. There was, like, this giant time rip thingy, and a pterodactyl flew out. If you keep looking, a dragon might follow."

Hanako rolled her eyes, but she laughed. "Everyone knows that dragons don't exist."

Aella got an affronted look on her face. "I bet you say the same thing about aliens. And yet, here I am." She made a sweeping gesture down her body.

"Oh – so you're an extraterrestrial being, now?" Hanako bumped her hips to Aella's

Aella nodded so solemnly that she almost burst out laughing. As they boarded the bus, they kept the light bantering going until Hanako had to get off at her stop. Aella bade her goodbye by flicking her forehead and leaned back into the seat, hands behind her head in a careless manner. She would've propped her feet onto the seat in front of her, but there was an old lady with a really heavy-looking purse sitting there, and she didn't think she would sleep well with a swollen cheek.

A very happy smile worked its way onto her face as she got off the bus, and she bit the inside of her cheek to conceal it. She was grinning like a fool, and she didn't feel like losing whatever street rep she had (which wasn't a lot).

But…things were going well in Rikkai Dai, and she had a good feeling about the coming year.

…She just hoped that she hadn't jinxed herself by thinking that.

* * *

"What was it like? You know, in America?" Hanako prodded the next day when they were on their way home. She didn't have soccer practice today, as it was the boys' team's turn.

Aella contemplated the question. A lot of things had been different, but there were very few worth noticing and taking into account. "Well," she began thoughtfully, "it wasn't really that different from here. I mean, we didn't have to wear any uniforms, and our sports teams weren't half as good, but there's really nothing to tell."

Hanako knitted together her eyebrows. "Still, didn't you have any friends?"

"Yeah, but they weren't super close friends," Aella answered, waving her hand in the air absently.

"Oh." Hanako shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other. "So, basically, you didn't do anything different in America?"

"The food was different," Aella pointed out. "And the clothes. I have a few shirts that I got there. They still fit. I wear them on the weekends."

Hanako nodded. "Why did you have to go there in the first place?"

Aella's pace dragged at the question. She hadn't expected to have to avoid the question so soon, and the answer was one that she did not want to share with anyone – or think about, for that matter. She went back to a normal speed quickly before Hanako could notice and purposely bumped into a person that had been walking in the opposite direction, scattering her books and homework in the process.

"Oh, oops," the person said. He had magenta hair and lavender colored eyes, with a tennis bag slung around his shoulders, which he let plop to the ground as he bent to help her pick her stuff up.

Aella noticed Hanako's blush out of the corner of her eye, and her lips quirked upward. She took her friend's hand and dragged her down beside her before giving a small and subtle nudge so that she was next to the boy. "It's fine," she told him, shuffling together all of her homework while she kept a close watch on Hanako's growing blush out of the side of her eye. She reached for a book, but he got there before her.

"You're reading this manga?!" he exclaimed, eyes bright as he stood up.

She stood up too and snatched it from him, shrugging. "It's pretty good.

"I love that manga!" the boy exclaimed. He was chewing bubble gum, and after he said this, he blew a bubble and let it pop in her face.

"Well then, you have good taste in mangas," Aella smirked. She put the book in her bag. "Hmm, Hanako, don't you think so?" She nudged her friend again, snapping her out of her I'm-gonna-be-a-robot state.

Hanako blinked a few times and fought to keep the blush from spreading on her face like kudzu. "Mmm, oh yeah, it's great," she murmured half-heartedly.

The boy gave her a crooked grin, and looked down at his wristwatch. He blanched, seeing the time, and said, "Oh, shit. Fukubuchou's going to kill me." Looking at Aella and Hanako, he gave them a sheepish grin. "Sorry, 'bout that. I have to get to tennis practice." And then he was off, weaving through the crowd nimbly.

Aella watched him go and shrugged, turning away to continue walking. Hanako followed her, a tinge of pink still visible on her cheeks. She seemed to have forgotten all about her earlier question.

Aella nudged her after a few moments of silence and gave her a cheeky grin. "So – what did you think of him? Pretty wild, eh?" She wanted to see what kind of reaction she could get out of her.

Hanako looked up, startled, and nodded. "Yeah. That's Marui-san."

"Oh, so his name is Marui?"

"Uh huh. He's a regular on the boys' tennis team. Marui Bunta."

"What did you think of him?"

Hanako, who's blush had died down by this time, returned with full-force, lighting up her face like a Christmas tree. "Uh, yeah, he's pretty nice. A lot better than his friend, Niou-san."

Aella's ears perked up at the mention of her old friend. She was tempted to ask why he was so bad, but she was sure that she could figure out why without Hanako's help.

"So, you like him?" she asked, making her eyebrows wiggle in a suggestive way.

"N-no," Hanako spluttered defensively.

Aella laughed. "I can see right through you, Hanako. And the color of your face isn't helping you much."

Her face lit up even more, looking like a roasted lobster. She ducked her head and let her hair fall over her face so Aella wouldn't be able to see her blush. "I don't," she mumbled, though without much conviction.

"Hah hah." Aella patted her back. "It's okay. I'll help you catch his eye." She winked, though she doubts that Hanako was paying enough attention to notice.

"Don't you dare," Hanako hissed.

"No, no, I won't tell him that you like him. I'm not _that_ direct. I'll be subtle, I promise," Aella swore, hands on her heart solemnly.

Hanako looked up at her, eyes narrowed. "I seriously doubt that you will. This is coming from the girl who asked a boy is he was one his period last week."

Aella cringed. "Look, he was really grouchy. Plus, he was squirming around in his seat a lot, like there was blood coming out of his butt."

"Boys don't get periods, Houshigawa," Hanako sighed, smiling.

"I'm just sayin' that he could've fooled me."

"You were the only one that was fooled."

"Excuse me for having an imagination."

"You're excused."

"Really? That's all you got. You're gonna have to work a lot harder if you wanna catch that Marui guy's eye."

"I-I don't."

"Mmm-hmm."

_"Really."_

"Save it for someone who believes you, Hanako."

"…"

"Good."

* * *

A few more days passed in Rikkai Dai, and all went well for Aella. Hanako was a different matter, her cheeks practically tinted permanently pink as Aella took every chance she got to tease the other girl about her "Marui Bunta Infatuation," as she'd taken to calling it, eyebrows waggling and elbow nudging.

Of course, one would think that all Hanako would've had to do was stop producing opportunities for Aella, but every word that she blurted from her mouth, every action that she did, every expression or color that arose on her face, Aella would find a way to exploit it into something related to Marui Bunta.

"I am just that good," Aella would then brag, before resuming her mercilessly teasing.

Hanako was taking it better than Aella had predicted, her only reactions being the occasional frustrated scream outside of class and the all-too occasional pulling of hair. "You'll go bald early," Aella would then point out, smiling like she'd just gotten her own private island. Hanako would bite the inside of her lip, to keep from laughing and screaming at the same time, and only shake her head, face glowing red from the roots of her hair to her toes.

Houshigawa was too delighted at Hanako's reaction; any passerby would think or comment. Who could blame her, though? It was well known all throughout Rikkai Dai that Hanako Miyumi _never_ blushed or got embarrassed.

Except around Marui Bunta, that is.

Surprisingly, the genius himself hadn't heard about this. When Aella realized this, two days into knowing about her friend's crush, she'd crossed her arms across her chest and snorted, "Some genius," to which Hanako would respond with a defensive, "He is just naïve."

And then the cycle would start over again, and their classmates would only be able to sigh and return to their work or lunch.

It was on a particular day like this that Aella finally made a breakthrough with her stubborn friend and managed to convince her that she wouldn't stop bothering her until she admitted that she had a crush on Marui Bunta.

"You'll have to accept this if you want to make any progress with him," Aella had chided in a patronizing tone. "You already admitted that you want him to notice you, you just need to admit that you like him."

"When did I admit that?!" Hanako exclaimed, throwing her arms above her head.

Their classmates paid no attention. Breaks were short, though frequent, and taking a minute to wonder what could possibly be so interesting to the usually levelheaded Hanako Miyumi was a considered a waste of time ever since Houshigawa Aella had come along. Now, these exclamations and outbursts were more frequent than ever, occurring at least once very ten-minute break.

"You admitted it when I found about your crush. You didn't say anything," Aella immediately countered sharply.

Hanako huffed. "Just because I'm silent doesn't mean I admit anything." She crossed her arms across her chest in a pouty manner and met Aella's amused gaze defiantly, like a child.

Aella felt the need to mimic Hanako's previous movement and fling her hands up, but she remained composed, a hand covering her mouth to keep her smile hidden and an eyebrow arched.

Seeing her pleasure on the subject, Hanako's pout deepened as her folded arms tightened protectively around her chest. "I do not." And then, probably for the sake of maintaining her dignity, she lifted up her chin.

Again, Aella's lips quirked up at her friend's behavior. Who would've thought that the same cheerful girl that had greeted her on her first day of school would be so easy to tease? Of course, the thing that she was being teased about also came into question, Aella pondered. She'd needled Hanako about the boy that had winked at her during lunch, and her friend hadn't batted an eyelash. The same result had been reached when Aella had tried guessing Hanako's crush, though Marui Bunta hadn't been one of the people on her list. Aella supposed that, despite her amazing poking and prodding and prying and people skills, a week and a half was not enough time to get to know a person.

This brought her train of thought to another, much less interesting but whose answer Aella wanted more than anything, question: why would Hanako want to be friends with her in the first place?

Because, as hard as it was to believe (for her), Aella wasn't the type of charismatic person who just _drew_ people to her like a magnet. She was generally friendly, and a bit arrogant; she liked to tease and make people squirm, usually finding pleasure in their reactions; she was especially fond of manipulating people, though only if the outcomes suited her – but she wasn't charismatic.

Aella shrugged, drawn out of her stupor when Hanako's pouty face morphed into a bemused face. She decided to hold that question in her mind for a later time and focus on convincing Hanako to confess her crush on Marui Bunta. She only had a couple of minutes before the teacher arrived, and she wanted to finally make a breakthrough.

"I think," Aella drawled slowly, "you are too prideful to admit that you like Marui Bunta." When Hanako opened her mouth to speak, Aella held up a hand. If she wanted to get this done quickly, she would have to do most of the talking. "That is not the most obvious reason – the obvious reason is that you are embarrassed – but it is the second reason, I think. The third is that–" Aella cut herself off in the middle, reminding herself that she had a time limit.

"Why can't you just leave it?" Hanako whined in that brief moment.

"Because, Hanako," Aella replied, "it is a challenge."

Hanako winced at Aella's use of her words the week before.

"Now," Aella continued, "I know you have a crush on Marui-san. You know, too. You just have to say it. No point in hiding something that's already been unveiled. Besides, I can help you."

Hanako let out a giant sigh and she dropped her hands to her lap with a _plop_. "Fine." She raised them again, both on either side of her head. She rolled her eyes. "I admit it." She leaned in. "I do have a crush on him." There was a small pause. "But I don't see how you can help."

Aella patted her on the back. "If that is a challenge on my matchmaking skills, I bet that I can get you a date with him before summer vacation starts."

Hanako snorted. "Fine. But, if nothing progresses between us, you have to…you have to do something that has yet to be determined."

Aella pretended to spit on her hand and extended it out for a shake. "Alright. If I win, then you have to do…You know what, your punishment is yet to be determined as well."

Hanako laughed. "Fine." She shook Aella's hand just as the teacher came in and class started.

Aella smirked. She'd managed to convince her friend to admit her crush and form a bet in the span of five minutes. Was that something or what?

* * *

Aella: Yo.

Author: So – people who read this chapter, I know that nothing really happened during this chapter, but I still hope you found it interesting.

Aella: I thought it was pretty good. I got to watch someone squirm.

Author: Yeah, okay. But anyway, this was basically a filler chapter. It was supposed to show how Aella was adjusting to Rikkai.

Aella: I think I did pretty well.

Author: Yes, yes you did. But chapter three will be up shortly–

Aella: I hope.

Author: –and it will be a lot more interesting. I promise you.

Aella: 'Kay. Well, without further ado, goodbye.

Author: Don't forget to leave a review or something. Bye.


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